Managed IT & Support
Cybersecurity
Cloud, Backup & Network
You get a senior security advisor who reviews your risks, ranks what to fix first and builds a plan your budget can handle, for businesses from the Loop to the suburbs.
Get a Free IT AssessmentCybersecurity consulting is advice, not a product. A consultant looks at how your business actually works, where your data lives and who can reach it. Then they tell you what could hurt you, how likely it is and what to do first. You get a clear picture instead of a pile of tools and acronyms.
Many Chicago owners are in one of two places. Some have bought a few security products over the years and cannot tell if they work together. Others have done almost nothing and feel behind. Consulting helps both. It sorts real risks from noise, so your money goes to the fixes that matter most.
Good consulting ends with a written plan you can follow. It lists the gaps, the order to close them, who owns each task and what it typically costs. You can run the plan with your own staff, hand it to an IT provider or use it to answer a client’s security questionnaire. The decision stays yours.
Chicago has a dense mix of law firms, medical practices, financial offices, logistics companies and manufacturers. Many of them handle client records, payment data or shipping details that attackers want. A larger client, a lender or an insurer may also start asking for proof of your security. A consultant helps you answer with facts, not guesses.
Most small and mid-sized offices cannot justify a full-time security leader. A consultant gives you that level of judgment for a set scope and a set price. You get honest advice on what to buy and what to skip, from someone who is not paid on commission for selling you more software.
Everything below is part of one monthly plan. Pick a topic to see what is handled for you and how it works in a Chicago office.
We begin by learning what you do, what data you hold and what would stop work if it went wrong. Then we look at accounts, devices, email, backups, vendors and who has access to what. The goal is to find the gaps an attacker would use first.
You receive findings written for owners, not engineers. Each one explains the risk, the likely impact and the fix. Nothing is padded. If an area is already solid, the report says so and moves on.
A roadmap turns findings into a schedule. Quick wins come first, like tightening logins and fixing risky settings. Larger projects follow in a sensible order so you are not trying to change everything in one month.
Each step has an owner, a rough cost range and a reason. You can pay for the whole plan to be carried out, do part yourself or spread it over several budget cycles. It works for a five-person office or a fifty-person team.
Not every business needs a penetration test right away. A consultant tells you when testing makes sense, what scope fits and what it should cost. That keeps you from paying for a test before the basics are fixed.
When testing is the right step, we help you define the scope, read the results and turn them into a fix list. You keep control of the process and understand what the findings mean for your business.
Short, clear policies work better than long ones. We help you write rules for passwords, device use, remote work, file sharing and what to do when something looks wrong. Each policy fits one page where possible.
Policies only help if people know them. We outline simple staff guidance and an easy way to report a suspicious message. Many breaches start with one rushed click, so everyday habits matter as much as software.
Security questions keep coming after the first project. A client sends a questionnaire. An insurer changes its terms. A vendor asks for access. Ongoing advice gives you someone to ask without starting a new project each time.
Some businesses use a few hours a month. Others check in each quarter to review progress against the roadmap. Either way, you pay for a defined amount of time and know what to expect.
Plenty of companies can fix a laptop. These are the three reasons clients mention most when they explain why they picked Ping Chicago.
Your technicians know how Loop high-rises handle building access, why basement server closets flood in summer storms and how long it really takes to reach Oak Brook at 4 p.m. That local knowledge turns into faster, calmer fixes.
Your network, devices and backups are watched around the clock. Most issues are caught and fixed before anyone in your office notices, and the rest are explained to you in plain English.
You get a written per-user quote after a free assessment, with every included service listed. No hourly surprises, no emergency rates and no fine print about what counts as extra.
Security needs look different from the Loop to the suburbs. A consultant who knows the area can match advice to the kind of office, building and clients you actually have.
Most Loop offices share a building’s internet riser, wiring closets and security desk. Managed IT here means working with property management on access and cabling, keeping remote access stable for commuters and scheduling after-hours work around building rules.
Creative agencies need fast Wi-Fi for large files and constant video calls, while medical offices near Northwestern Memorial need HIPAA-ready systems. Both get the same help desk, with security matched to the data they store.
Dental and medical practices, therapists and small firms run on a few critical systems: scheduling, imaging and billing. Managed IT keeps them patched, backed up and running before the first appointment of the day.
Point-of-sale systems, guest Wi-Fi and a handful of laptops can still take a shop offline. Managed IT separates guest and business networks and keeps payment systems updated and monitored.
Event, hospitality and professional offices near McCormick Place deal with seasonal rushes. Managed IT scales support around busy weeks and keeps shared and public spaces secure.
Practices and offices in Evanston and Skokie get the same remote help desk as downtown clients, with on-site visits scheduled for hardware, cabling and network work.
Logistics and distribution businesses near O’Hare run warehouses, scanners and shipping systems around the clock. Managed IT monitors those networks 24/7 and plans updates outside shift changes.
Many companies in Oak Brook, Naperville and Schaumburg run a suburban headquarters with a city branch. Managed IT connects both sites securely and supports staff at either location.
Many owners wonder whether to hire an advisor, buy software or wait. Here is how a consultant like Ping Chicago compares with the common alternatives.
| Topic | Ping Chicago | Buying Security Tools Alone | Waiting Until Something Happens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Review of your real risks | Vendor sales pitch | No starting point |
| Cost | Fixed scope, quoted up front | Licenses that add up | Low until an incident, then high |
| Advice quality | Independent, no product bias | Tied to what the vendor sells | None |
| Priorities | Ranked by business impact | Often unclear | Reactive only |
| Documentation | Written plan & policies | Product manuals | Nothing to show clients |
| Staff involvement | Simple habits & guidance | Often forgotten | Not addressed |
| Long-term value | Roadmap you can reuse | Tools may sit unused | Risk grows over time |
The work ends with clear decisions, not a thick report nobody reads.
You see what could hurt you most, in order, with plain reasons.
Fixes are sequenced by impact, effort and cost over the next year.
You get documents that answer security questionnaires and renewal forms.
Budget goes to controls that reduce real risk, not shiny extras.
Different industries face different risks, so advice should reflect how your business works.
Confidential client files, secure email and careful access control for matters and court deadlines.
Financial ServicesProtection for client financial data, plus the documentation lenders and partners ask to see.
Healthcare OfficesSecurity matched to patient records, imaging systems and the privacy rules medical offices follow.
ManufacturersSafer production networks, vendor access and plans that keep lines running if systems fail.
Our old provider took a day to answer. Now a typical ticket is closed in about 12 minutes, and password resets happen while I’m still on the phone. Our staff stopped complaining about IT within the first month, which never happened before.
We were nervous about changing providers with deadlines ahead. The whole move took three weeks, email and files kept working throughout, and every login and device was documented. Not one person missed a day of work because of it.
We used to get surprise invoices every time something broke. Now it’s one predictable monthly bill, and problems get flagged before we notice them. Planning our IT budget takes five minutes instead of an argument with the owner.
After a free assessment, you get a written quote with scope, timeline and price before any consulting work begins.
A consultant reviews how your business uses technology, finds the gaps that put you at risk and ranks them. You get a written plan with costs and priorities. The consultant also advises on policies, vendors and testing, and can help you answer client or insurer questions.
Pricing depends on scope and size. A focused risk review for a small office typically costs a few thousand dollars. Larger reviews and ongoing advisory time cost more. Most firms quote a fixed price after a short assessment, so you know the total before work starts.
Consulting gives you advice, a plan and documents. Managed security is the day-to-day monitoring and protection of your systems. Many businesses start with consulting to learn what they need, then choose whether to run the plan themselves or hire someone to do it.
Often yes. Your IT provider keeps systems running, while a consultant gives an independent view of risk. A second opinion can catch gaps and check that the money you spend on security is working. Good providers welcome it and help carry out the plan.
A small office review often takes one to three weeks from kickoff to written findings. Larger organizations with many locations or systems take longer. Most of the time goes to gathering information, so having access to your staff and settings ready speeds things up.
Only what is needed for the scope you approve. Many reviews start with interviews and read-only access to settings. We explain what we need and why before we ask. You stay in control of who can see what, and access ends when the work does.
Yes. Clients, lenders and insurers increasingly send detailed security questions. A consultant helps you answer accurately, fix any gaps the questions reveal and produce documents that back up your answers. That saves time and avoids promising controls you do not have.
No. Small businesses are common targets because they often have fewer protections. A consultant scales the work to your size, so a ten-person office gets a focused review and a short plan, not an enterprise project with a price to match.
Most businesses should do a full review about once a year, plus a check whenever something big changes. That might be a new office, a new system, a merger or a move to remote work. Quarterly check-ins keep the plan current between reviews.
You decide the next step. You can carry out the plan with your own team, hand it to your IT provider or ask us to do the work. The report stands on its own, so you are never locked in. We answer follow-up questions as you go.
Need something slightly different? These services cover the same ground from another angle.
A free assessment shows what is at risk, what to fix first and what it would typically cost.